Pulau Langkawi Vacation 2010 - Part 1

We had been planning for this trip to the famous island of Langkawi for almost 4 months prior to the actual date of departure. When we first started planning the trip, we were contemplating on the mode of transport - should we go by land as per our previous travel or should we try flying to our destination. Then what would we want to do once we get there. We did a lot of reading on Langkawi and also browse through other's blogs. Since this was our first time to the island, we decided that we would visit interesting places on the island while throwing in a bit of shopping for duty free chocolates and some tablewares which is what Langkawi is famous for apart from it's mystical islands archipelago tourism industry.


A bit about Langkawi Island

Lying off the northwestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia in the state of Kedah, Pulau Langkawi is the largest among an archipelago of 99 islands collectively known as Langkawi. With only a small population of 54,000 in a land of 32,000 hectares, Langkawi is surrounded by beautiful turquoise sea with paddy fields and lush jungles cladding hills in the inland.
As mentioned earlier, the tourism industry seems to be the main economic activity of Langkawi island.

The "Mascot" of Langkawi, the Brahminy Kite (Haliastur indus) depicted
as a huge sculpted statue at Dataran Lang in Kuah.

Beautiful islands and beaches is the main attraction of
Langkawi 99 islands archipelago

One of Langkawi's beautiful beaches

MATTA Fair in September 2010 was our next strategy in getting a fair deal of getting to Langkawi. Various packages were offered to us before deciding on one. 3D2N stay at Bayview Hotel Langkawi and a 48 hour car rental included. We took it along with a "passport" that would admit you to 6 different tourist attractions around Langkawi for only RM100 for 3 "passports" ! The places included amongst others are the Bird and Wildlife Park, Galeria Perdana, Underwater World Langkawi, Kota Mahsuri and such. H

aving paid a deposit for the hotel package, 

we waited for THE day ! But wait...3D2N my wife thought. Lets throw in another day ! We had planned for 3rd - 5th Dec but would that be enough time to visit all the interesting places and do a bit of shopping too? With this thought, we decided that we would arrive a day earlier in Langkawi. As we had already booked the hotel dates much earlier at MATTA Fair, we decided

 to go online and searched for a budget hotel around Kuah. After going through a few hotels, we decided to book Citin Hotel which is in the heart of Kuah town. Next we are to decide on the mode of transport to Langkawi. We had 2 choices and they were :

Plan A -  By land 
This would be at least 6-7 hours drive direct from the capital city Kuala Lumpur (driving within the speed limits including pit-stops and food). The journey would take us through the states of Selangor, Perak and finally Kedah We thought of stopping overnight in Ipoh before proceeding to Kuala Kedah the next day. However, this would only lengthens our travelling time and we would lose precious day on the road.

We would be travelling from Jalan Duta Toll Plaza, travelling along the North-South Expressway to Alor Setar Selatan Toll Plaza. It would cost us RM54.70 of toll fare for the  400 Km journey one way. Fuel was estimated to be about RM150 one way. This had not taken into account food and other necessities... We would be spending RM200-300 for the travelling part alone - One way!! From Kuala Kedah thereon, we would have to board a ferry to the Langkawi Island. We learned from other's blog, boarding the ferry is quite a hassle. Apart from the crowd, the wait for the tickets and the ferry itself is an agonizing experience. We would also have to leave our car to the mercy of the sun and the wind and also vandalism.... (?)
We decided that this is not the way we want to travel to Langkawi Island !!


Plan B - By Air
Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia and Fireflyz all fly several flights to Langkawi Island daily from Kuala Lumpur Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT) except for the latter which takes off from Subang Airport. Upon logging in to their websites, we found that the total cost for flying with Air Asia was about RM 1,000 ++ inclusive of airport tax, pre-purchased baggage allowance, insurance and seat for 3 persons (Please check online as the rate varies with the dates of your departure).
Flight lasts about an hour and we would save our time tremendously than travelling by land. We would also not have to be battling the elements, the fatigue and mental agony. This is truly the best way to travel to Langkawi Island.

The day finally came. We left home for LCCT at 11am and reached there around 12pm. Having checked in our luggage, we had a light meal before our flight at McDonald's.

Getting the baggage organized...

Waiting to board our flight...

On board Air Asia Flight AK 5326

Arrival at Langkawi International Airport

We boarded the aircraft, flight AK 5326 bound for Langkawi at 1.45pm. We departed from LCCT exactly at 2.05pm and after about an hour's flight, we touched down at Langkawi International Airport. After claiming our luggage, we took a taxi to our hotel in Kuah. The 20 minutes drive costs RM24.00. The drive was a pleasant one although it was hot outside. There were not many cars on the road as compared to Kuala Lumpur. What a change. At this point we had already known that this would be a great vacation !


- Continued on Part 2 -